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When the Levees Break: Relief Cuts and Flood Management in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

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When the Levees Break: Relief Cuts and Flood Management in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta UC Berkeley Hydrology Title When the levees break: Relief cuts and flood management in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4qt8v88d Authors Fransen, Lindsey Ludy, Jessica Matella, Mary Publication Date 2008-05-16 eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California When the levees break: Relief cuts and flood management in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Hydrology for Planners LA 222 Lindsey Fransen, Jessica Ludy, and Mary Matella FINAL DRAFT May 16, 2008 Abstract The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is one of California’s most important geographic regions. It supports significant agricultural, urban, and ecological systems and delivers water to two-thirds of the state’s population, but faces extremely high risks of disaster. Largely below sea level and supported by 1,100 miles of aging dikes and levees, the Delta system is subject to frequent flooding. Jurisdictional and financial disincentives to better flood planning prevent coordination that might otherwise reduce both costs and damages. This study highlights one possible flood mitigation technique called a relief cut, which is an intentional break in a downslope levee to allow water that has overtopped or breached an upslope levee to drain back into the river. This flood management technique is “smart” when located in appropriate areas so that floodwaters can be managed most efficiently and safely after a levee break. We identify four key constraints and make four recommendations for flood management planning. The constraints are: 1) Perception of flood risk – The public believes that levees will protect them from all flood events; 2) Perverse incentives – For reclamation districts to finance levee maintenance and flood planning, they must encourage development in flood risk areas to collect assessment fees; 3) Litigation threat – Agencies remain vulnerable to litigation after a flood which is a disincentive for taking action because no one wants the blame; and 4) Reimbursement uncertainty – Historical flood accounts demonstrate local entities are not always reimbursed for their expenditures which discourages quick action during a flood. We recommend the following actions for agency officials to endorse and the public to support: 1) Acknowledge that levees will fail and plan accordingly; 2) Explicitly plan for emergencies such as relief cuts before the flood occurs; 3) Support interagency cooperation, and 4) Apply Full Cost Recovery concept from the European Union Water Framework Directive. 1 Introduction In 1983, California experienced nearly twice its average runoff statewide, with numerous and sustained high peak flows. At 7:45 AM on March 6, a section of the levee along the San Joaquin River failed and floodwaters coursed into River Junction in Reclamation District (RD) 2064. As water levels rose inside the flooded tract, local officials wanted to make a relief cut, an intentional break in a levee to let the water drain off the land back into the river. However, the Army Corps of Engineers objected to the plan and officials had to travel to Sacramento to obtain permission to make the levee cut. In the meantime, the floodwaters threatened to enter the adjacent district, RD 2075. Local officials finally obtained the necessary permission and made the relief cut at 3:00 PM. This action lowered the water levels in the River Junction tract, preventing flooding in RD 2075. Why did so much time pass before district officials could act? Why wasn't the levee break planned for and agreed upon ahead of time? Unfortunately, this flood management scenario is common in California's Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. This study addresses these questions and offers recommendations for flood planning in the Delta that allows for swift, decisive action to minimize flood damage. The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is one of the most economically and ecologically important areas in California (Figure 1). The Delta supports significant agricultural, ecological, and urban uses, and provides drinking water to two-thirds of the state’s population. Draining the American, Sacramento, and San Joaquin rivers, the Delta area consists of a series of islands, mostly below sea-level, protected by 1,100 miles of dikes and levees (DRMS 2008). Although the majority of the land is in agricultural use, some areas are developed and remain under pressure for further urban development (Eisenstein et al. 2007). The risk of catastrophic flooding 2 due to aging levees, seismic activity, land subsidence, climate change and sea level rise, threatens the human and ecological systems that rest precariously at this geographical crossroads so vital to the state. Flooding in the Delta is both inevitable and costly. More than 160 levees have failed since 1900 (DRMS 2008) and the majority of existing levees were designed to protect to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) 100-year flood standards, defined as the flood that has a one percent chance of occurring in any given year. However, considering the flood risk from storms larger than the 100-year event, residents living in the Delta region face a 25 percent chance of flooding during the course of a 30-year mortgage (Eisenstein et al. 2007). Even in smaller storms, flooding can result from levee failure. Many of the Delta levees suffer from internal weakness due to poor construction or lack of maintenance (DWR 2005). The 1997 floods forced more than 120,000 Delta residents from their homes, and more than 55,000 were housed in 107 shelters, the largest such operation in California’s history. In 2004 the Jones Tract levee break cost the state over $100 million for damages and recovery (DWR 2005). Levee failure and flooding pose a threat to current and future development in the Delta. Towns like Stockton and Sacramento are at risk of losing property, infrastructure, and human life. In addition, flood protection, prevention, and recovery costs are high. Therefore, it is in the best interest of the region to adequately prepare for flood prevention, protection, and recovery. Relying on levees alone in the Delta is a strategy similar to French reliance on the Maginot Line during World War II (Ron Baldwin, San Joaquin Office of Emergency Services, pers. comm. April 2008). This 550km barrier was designed to protect Northern France from German forces and was assumed to be impenetrable (Allcorn 2003). Believing that no backup plan was necessary, the French suffered losses in 1940 when the Germans bypassed the line and 3 invaded through Belgium. In the Delta, responsible agencies, legislators, and residents depend on the integrity of levees to protect them from floods and flood damage, and seldom have a backup plan. However, history tells us that we need a better strategy or at least a plan B. In 1880 William Hammond Hall, California’s state engineer, observed that there were two kinds of levees: those that have failed and those that will fail. When a levee fails, the most effective response might be to make a relief cut on another levee further downstream. Relief cuts provide an outlet for water to drain during a flood, minimizing the height of the floodwaters on the land between levees. Relief cuts, while effective in certain situations, are rarely if ever included in flood control planning or in development plans (Baldwin, pers. comm. 2008). Relief cuts: Function and criteria Making a relief cut at the lower end of an area protected by levees is an established method for lowering the depth of impounded water following the failure of a primary levee (Court of Appeal, 2004). A relief cut is an intentional breach in the top of a downslope levee that releases water from an area flooded by an upslope levee breach. Cutting the downslope levee lets water flow back into a river where water elevation is lower (Figure 2). Lowering the depth of the floodwater on the land between levees reduces flood damages and the total area flooded. The pressure from floodwaters on a levee downslope can be so great that a “natural relief cut” occurs when it collapses from the inside back out into the river. Whether a relief cut occurs naturally or is made intentionally, there are consequences that accompany the release of water from a flooded area back into a river. First, the swiftly moving water will widen the cut as it flows through and over the opening. It will also scour the area on both sides of the cut levee (Figure 3). Additionally, the current created by water rushing down to 4 the lower level of the river will pick up and move objects in its path and is strong enough to sweep houses off of their foundations (Neudeck, pers. comm. 2008). An example of this occurred during a flood in RD 2064 in 1997, when, in addition to two deliberate relief cuts, a levee spontaneously failed at another site. This unintentional breach let water back into the San Joaquin River, lowering flood levels, but also destroying two homes in Cardoza Village (KSN Inc. 2006). Thus, relief cuts should be carefully sited to minimize peripheral damage. Relief cuts are an effective strategy to minimize damages, costs, and health and safety risks. However, flood management plans rarely include relief cut locations or identify responsible parties, leading to last minute, potentially dangerous implementation. The goal of this study is to investigate why agencies do not plan for relief cuts, offer an alternative approach to flood protection and mitigation behind levees, and consider how the full cost recovery principle of the European Union Water Framework Directive could apply to flood management in the Delta. Methods Literature Review To provide a historical and current context for understanding the Delta, we reviewed documents on levees, past floods, current and proposed legislation, and land use planning. This also included agency reports, Reclamation District meeting minutes, legal filings from court cases, and regional planning documents on the area’s background and specific issues faced by Reclamation Districts.
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